It's Just our Life
by Sacchiance
Summary: Hey, that's just how our life turned out. We didn't expect this to happen. But, it did bring us together somehow. All this is something out of a fantasy, right? Who cares though because friendship will be our guardian. PS, ORS, CS, IS, QS, SSS, FWS, SS, OCS
1. Chapter 1: It's Our Secret Beginning

**09/19/12  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own POKEMON!  
**

**Chapter 1: It's Our Secret Beginning **

"Misty, are you sure this is okay?" Leaf asked, skeptical at the idea to go boating without telling anyone. You know, just in case they are worried and know where to look for her if they were to be out for too long.

The ginger haired girl only rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I go all the time. Now where's May?"

"Over here!" a girl with brown hair in a red bandana popped up from behind Leaf, effectively scaring her.

"Please don't do that," Leaf said, a hand over her heart to feel the thumping slow down after the shock.

Her comment was ignored as May took a seat next to her and continued eating her hotdog which was almost done.

"Relax a little Leafy dear," May said.

Leaf just rolled her eyes and crossed her arms while laying back. "Just go."

"Aye aye," Misty grinned as she started the boat and drove it out of the ports. It started out with just around the port area. Then the ginger saw a close friend by the bridge. "Hey Ash!"

A black haired boy looked around to find the voice. His pikachu that was perched on his shoulder tapped him by the head and pointed down below. "Misty!" He waved energetically while with his mouth full.

"Don't talk with your mouth full!" Misty yelled.

Ash nodded and swallowed his food before speaking again. "What cha doing?"

"Boating," Misty said as she drove the boat nearing to the edge where Ash was.

"How's the number four hot dog Ash?" May butted in while still eating her hot dog.

"Great," He replied while still eating. "You should try it." Then he sniffed the air. "Is that the number six?"

"Yeah," May said while grinning. "You have got to try it."

With a bit more of small chat, the girls left a waving Ash behind.

"Hey, let's go to that island," May pointed towards land.

Leaf took a look and had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. "I don't think we should; it looks. . .mysterious."

"I don't think it's dangerous," May shrugged. "I think, it's rather adventurous." Then the brunette stood up. "Ooh! Ooh! Let's go! We have to go, I got that feeling in the pit of my stomach."

Misty and Leaf looked at May skeptically. May had joined their school about a week ago. She transferred here early so there weren't any problems with catching up.

"Oh please," May put on her teddiursa look.

Misty and Leaf rolled their eyes. They have been friends since the first day of school, and gladly accepted May into their duo group. But knowing May, she would beg them to go there.

"Fine," the two girls replied.

"Yahoo!" May cheered.

Misty changed the direction of the boat and headed towards the island that was quite far away from the mainland, but close enough to see it as big as a rubber ball elementary children uses. "Just hope there are no carvanhas, especially sharpedos and gyaradoses." Misty said worriedly, but she still looked pretty confident.

"Don't you have like a gyarados yourself?" Leaf asked while looking around the ocean. The atmosphere is very peaceful. Who knew being out in the ocean alone, or with friends, could be relaxing? Well, considering that no one else is out here, it should be calming as long as they don't see any fins above the water or under.

Misty was quiet for a moment before she answered. "Yes…but he's a bit…" she tried to come up with a word for her gyarados. "Rebellious?"

"Rebellious?" May questioned with an interested look. "How so?"

"Gyarados doesn't really follow orders sometimes, well, mostly from me." Misty tried to explain.

"Only 'cause you're the only one that works at the gym. You sisters are too busy being 'sensational,'" Leaf air quoted.

"They are the Sensational Sisters," May pointed out. "Do you think I can meet him?"

"Sure," Misty said unsure. "Gyarados kind of reminds me of Ash's charizard."

Leaf knew what Misty meant and nodded while May was confused.

"What do you mean?" the brunette clad in red asked.

"Ash's charizard used to not listen to his orders." Leaf explained. Although she and Misty hadn't talked until they met in school, they both knew Ash when he started out. "As a charmander, he listened to Ash like any pokemon with their trainer. But when charmander evolved, he didn't listen as much anymore, but his charmeleon days were short. Then Ash got his charizard when he was in trouble. So yeah, from then on, it took time, but charizard eventually listened to Ash again. Although, it did help that Ash left charizard at that place where they train charizards."

"Wow," May said in disbelief. There have only been a few cases where pokémon didn't listen to their trainers, and usually it is because of not acknowledging their new master, or some other reason.

Misty let out a huge sigh. "Putting the past behind us, we're coming onto land soon."

Both Leaf and May came up to Misty and looked over the ginger's shoulder to see sand coming into view along with the whole island.

"Wow, it's much bigger than I thought," May said in amazement as she hopped out of the boat and walked onto the island, not minding that her ankles are wet.

Leaf got out of the boat once Misty couldn't travel any farther due to the sand. "You couldn't wait?" Leaf raised a brow.

"Nope," May answered while popping the 'p'. "Take the stage, beautifly!" May tossed up a pokeball and out came a butterfly. "Well, don't you have some sort of flying type?" she pointed the question at Leaf.

Leaf looked hesitant and sheepish at the fact that she didn't have tropius on her as she reached for a pokeball. "Sorry, but the closest is my shiftry." Leaf let out her pokémon which scared May a bit at the dark look it gave her.

"Um, hi?" May said nervously.

Leaf shook her head while Misty let out a small laugh. "Shiftry, stop that." Immediately, shiftry's expression turned from a scowl to a grin. Now May was more relieved since Leaf's pokémon didn't look like it was out to get her. "Shiftry likes to scare people for the fun of it, but he can be scary."

"Let's go," Misty said while pointing to the direction of a volcano, or mountain, which ever it is.

Walking, or flying in beautifly's case, the group ventured into the forest. It looked undisturbed and very nature-y. Mankeys were swinging in the vines, a group of oddish and its evolutions were at a nearby flower field, deerlings and sawsbucks were grazing on grasses. It was like a small paradise for all sorts of pokémon.

Leaf inspected around, Misty was in a daze as she looked at the pokémon, and May was watching everything with interested eyes.

"Hmm, I wonder how they got on here," Leaf mused quietly to herself. There were all sorts of pokémon around, and from different regions too. The ones from Unova were especially surprising since they were only native to the Unova region, nowhere else.

"Let's stop here," May said as the group stopped right near the foot of the volcano/mountain. They were near a mini waterfall that sprouted out just down below.

"Do you see anything?" May asked her beautifly who had flew up high. Beautifly shook her head as she came back down to land on May's head.

Misty saw May was about to collapse. When the ginger saw what w s behind May, she tried to stop the falling brunette from sitting down. "Wait, May—" Misty was cut off as May fell down the hole that appeared to be like a small cave, except it went down, not straight.

They peered in and heard an 'oomph' with an 'ow.'

"You okay?" Leaf sweatdropped. How could the ditzy brunette not notice a cave hole that was right behind her?

"Yeah, just pecha— No!" May shouted in sarcasm. "Misty!" May whined from down below. Beautifly called out in worry. Before May fell completely in, the butterfly pokémon flew off May's head and floated in front of the entrance.

Misty shrugged, not that May could see. "I tried to warn you, but you were already sitting down. Plus, how can you _not_ notice the hole?"

"Hmm, let me think." May said sarcastically. "My back was behind it!" She yelled up the hole. "Now get me out of here!"

Misty looked at Leaf. All of Misty's pokémon were practically water types, so no use there.

Leaf let out a sheepish laugh while twindling with her pointer fingers. "Well, I only brought shiftry, petilil, and sawsbuck with me. Heheh."

"Well?" May called from down below.

"Don't you have a pokémon of your own?" Misty yelled back.

May crossed her arms. "Besides beautifly, I only have ninetails and squirtle."

"Just great," Misty threw her hands up. "I'll be back. I'm gonna look for a vine or something. Can I borrow shiftry?"

"Sure." Leaf turned to her shiftry. "try not to run off, and do as Misty tells you, okay?" Shiftry nodded and left with Misty.

"I guess it's you and me."

"Wipe that grin off," Leaf scoffed at how May can be so calm and cheerful.

"Don't be so pessimistic," May lectured with a grin. "Beautifly!" While the girls were talking, beautifly flew down to be with its trainer.

"Too bad your string shot isn't strong enough to fight those edgy rocks." May referred to the cave hole. Jagged rocks were sticking out—not sharp enough to hurt exactly, but still sharp enough to cut through a string shot.

"So, what do you want to talk about?" Leaf asked, sitting by the entrance of the cave hole.

"I don't know," May said. "Do you have a boy you like?"

"No," Leaf said.

May only grinned, feeling playful like a glameow. "You answered a bit too quick Leafy dear. Is it possible that you do have someone in mind?" she asked slyly.

Leaf rolled her eyes and placed her head on the palm of her hand that was propped up on her leg. "No, May sweetie," Leaf mocked back. "I don't have anyone in mind."

"Oh come on Leaf, when I ask this question, people would usually have someone pop up in their mind the instant I ask that question."

"Then I am not one of those _people_," Leaf responded back with a hint of blush. Luckily for her, no one was around to see that. But true to May's words, the first person she thought of was a boy with spiky brunette hair who was known as a player.

"What's taking Misty so long?" May whined. It felt like hours since Misty left. "I bet it's night time already."

"May, Misty left a while ago. It hasn't been that long, but it is getting to sunset." Leaf mentioned and took a look at her watch. They had been boating for quite a while. Maybe the trip to this island was longer than she initially thought.

"See!" May shouted up the hole. Being down in this cave wasn't her ideal place. It wasn't exactly dark-dark, but she wasn't used to being alone like this. A couple of yards away from her, there was a small pool of water. May didn't how deep it was nor did she care to find out.

Leaf and May were talking about various things while waiting for Misty. They even released their pokémon for some air time.

"You know, I think it feels like hours now." May commented glumly.

Leaf looked up at the sky. The sun was already disappearing. Night time should hit pretty soon. "Well, it is going to be night time soon."

"Hah!" May said triumphantly. "I knew it. It has been hours. Where has Misty gone?"

Leaf shrugged while watching her pokémon play around. "Who knows. I can't leave you alone but I can't send my pokémon to look for her. And I don't really think you would enjoy my pokémons' company like you would with me."

"It's getting could down here," May said while shivering. Upon seeing its master shiver, ninetails curled around May to keep her warm. Beautifly also cuddled by ninetails's said for warmth. Squirtle didn't mind the cold very much, but stationed itself near May's side. "Never mind," May laughed. "I'm good."

Unfortunately, it couldn't be said the same for Leaf who was even more exposed to the cold air. Sawsbuck did help a lot as it curled around Leaf and petilil was snuggled on Leaf's lap, but the night air was still chilly. But thinking about it, she might be better than Misty who's warmth is only shiftry, but even Misty wouldn't just ask shiftry for warmth since it wasn't hers.

Leaf was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard yelling. "I'm back!"

To her side, she saw Misty holding a coiled vine from shiftry's back. Looks like Misty had no trouble with asking shiftry to carry her back.

"What took you so long?" Leaf asked, a bit annoyed at the time it took for her to get a vine.

Misty laughed nervously. "Many things happened. The first vine I tried to get fell onto a beedrill's nest. Then I ran for it with shiftry by my side, or rather above me up in the trees. You know how I am with bugs."

"I suppose," Leaf understood how terrified Misty must've reacted. "But what took so long to get them off your tail? Shiftry could've handled them easily with just a glare and a move."

Again, Misty laughed nervously while slipping the rope down the cave hole. "We kind of got lost, and I was too busy escaping their wrath to notice how far I left."

"And…?" Leaf waited for Misty to answer more. It couldn't have took her 'til nighttime to get another vine."

"Well, on our way back, I guess we took the wrong turn because we ended up at the beachside." Misty explained. But during there, she had seen a corsula swimming and went after it immediately. She was dying to catch one. And she did, after a while. But it's not like she'll tell Leaf that. "And then yeah, we got the vine and tried to make our way back."

"I see," Leaf agreed with Misty's story, but had a suspicion that her friend was not telling the complete truth. "Ready May?"

While Misty was explaining, she was lowering the rope. Leaf recalled her pokémon and held onto the end of the vine.

"Ready!" May yelled back, glad that she was getting out of there. Her pokemon were back in their pokeball except for beautifly.

So the two girls pulled up May, who was climbing out of the cave hole. It was kind of difficult since it was smoother than she remembered but there were some rocky parts that she used to help her climb up.

However, just as they could see her face, the vine began to snap and break apart. May panicked and began to climb faster. She reached out one of her arm just as the rope snapped. Misty made for a grab since she was closer, but the momentum of May falling back down was too great and she pulled Misty back down since the ginger still had a grip on the brunette.

_Oomph! Thud._

"Oww." Leaf heard from down below. '_So close.'_ Leaf just wanted this nightmare to end just go home. "Are you guys alright?"

"Yeah, we're fine." Leaf heard Misty respond and then heard a grumble.

May pushed Misty off of her. "Speak for yourself." When they fell, May was first to land and landed face down onto the sandy floor. Then Misty came immediately right after on top of her. So no, May had to worser landing.

Misty got up from the floor when May had pushed her and saw the pool of water. "Hey, there's water down here."

"Yeah, so?" May said while rubbing her face and standing up.

"Well, duh. If there's water down here, there has to be a source from where it is coming from. I bet it leads to an outside lake or the ocean." Misty explained making her way to the small pool and scanning the waters.

"Misty," May called in worriment. "What if there's pokémon down there? Or worse, sharks and sharpedoes."

Misty rolled her eyes. Sharks were common, but she was more worried of sharpedoes than regular sharks. But sharks were more likely to attack. "I'll be fine." The orange haired girl turned back into the pool and released her starmie. She told her pokémon to scan if there was anything dangerous at the bottom. After a few minutes, starmie appeared back up and shook itself no.

Nodding, Misty lowered herself into the pool. It was cold, shown by her shivering. She took a deep breath and dived underwater with her starmie.

May fidgeted nervously, worried that Misty may be in trouble. She looked at the cave hole when Leaf asked what was going on.

The brunette explained that Misty was just looking for the way out through the small pool that was there.

"Why didn't you say so earlier?" Leaf chided. May only crossed her arms and huffed that even Leaf knew about escaping through the water.

"Well sor-ry," May said. "I just thought I could get out of her dry-free."

Before Leaf could speak, May shushed her as she saw Misty come back up.

Misty took a deep breath of air and released it. "We can get into the ocean through down there. It's about a twenty second or so dive to get to the hole." Misty reached the edge and packed her shoes into her bad and stared at May. "Well? What are you waiting for, an invitation or something? Come on." She gestured to the spot next to her.

May was becoming all nervous again. It's not that she didn't want to escape going through the water per say, but it was just that she can't. . .May mumbled.

"What was that?" Misty put a hand around her ear.

May looked embarrassed and said in a low voice, "I can't swim."

"Then we better start now," Misty said, not at all bothered. "Come in here and I'll show you how to dive. Do you have a water pokémon with you?"

"But I can't, and yes, I have a squirtle." May replied, not even coming any closer to the pool.

"Come on," Misty stressed. "You squirtle can do all the diving for you. Just take a deep breath and hold onto your squirtle."

"No," May turned away. "Leaf, can you go get another vine?"

Angry, Misty got out of the water and marched towards the defiant brunette. "May, get in the water." Misty commanded and pointed at the water to make her point.

"No, you can't make me." May argued back. The two kept arguing back and forth. Misty even tried to pull her, but she wouldn't budge very much and also pulled back.

"Oh for the love of," Leaf sighed at her pokémon. She recalled them back and positioned herself to slide down, but before she did so, she called down "Make way!" Without waiting for a reply, she slid down the hole like it was some slide, not as smooth but still okay.

The brunette tumbled to ground with a soft thud that didn't hurt and dusted herself off when she stood. When she looked up, she saw May and Misty pulling at each other. May pulling back against the cave and Misty towards the pool.

Not wasting a moment, Leaf sent out her shiftry once more and told shiftry to throw the girls into the water, but May should be thrown near the edge. Nodding, shiftry pulled Misty away first and threw her into the water.

"Hey!" Misty yelled angrily with a raised fist. "How could you Leaf, and I thought we had something."

Leaf on grinned and looked at her shiftry. "Thanks."

Meanwhile, May was laughing at Misty and making fun of her. "Thanks Leaf."

"You're welcome," Leaf smiled with closed eyes and nodded her head. Without warning, shiftry picked May up and threw her into the water. Now it was time for Misty to laugh while May was struggling to get to the edge which wasn't far off.

She was coughing up water and gave her a glare. "I could've drowned!" May was about to pull herself, but Leaf interfered and appeared in front of her after calling back her shiftry.

"May, I honestly don't care. I want to go home, so don't even think about leaving the water." Leaf slowly sank into the water. To her surprise, there was a buildup so there was like a bench underwater made from the cave hole place.

May pouted, but Leaf could see the scare in her eyes from the event.

"Sorry," Leaf said genuinely but quickly changed her tone. "We need to go. Misty, can I borrow a pokémon?"

"Marill," the small blue mouse-ish water pokémon appeared into the water. The marill squealed happily and waded in the pool. Misty told her marill to help Leaf. The two girls turned around to see that May was holding onto the edge and didn't seem to want to let go anytime soon. Her squirtle was out and also wading in the pool happily.

Leaf and Misty swam over to May.

"May, you need to let go," Leaf said softly. Misty let her handled it because she was better at the parental thing.

"But," May whimpered, she was having a flashback when she almost drowned in the pool a couple years ago. She could swim, but was scared of what had happened to her. "I'm scared of, of drowning."

"It's going to be alright," Leaf coaxed. "Squirtle will swim and you just have to hold on tight to its shell." See?" Leaf demonstrated by holding onto the shell and having squirtle swim around. "But you will need to kick a bit so it will be easier."

"C'mon May," Misty called obnoxiously. "We need to go. It's night time and we have school tomorrow."

That seemed to do the trick since May was letting go slowly and held onto Leaf's hand. "Wait," May dunked her head down and opened her eyes. She had to see for herself that nothing was going to harm her. Surfacing again, she nodded and the two swam towards Misty who was in the middle where light shown down from the hole on top.

It was like they were really in a volcano since it was a long ways up and the rock formation narrowed as it goes higher until there's a small hole, big enough so that the moon can be seen fully and still see some of the night sky surrounding the large space rock.

"Are you ready?" Leaf asked May.

May nodded and was about to call her squirtle that was playing with Misty's marill and starmie when the water began to bubble. It mostly bubbled in the area where the moon light was shining down, which so happens to be where the three girls were floating.

This reaction caused them to look up at the moon. They didn't know why, but the moon seemed mesmerizing at the moment. It was a full moon and seemed to be at its peak, meaning that it was probably around midnight. They stared up and waded in the same spot. Their pokémon were looking at them with concern but made no move to approach them since nothing was happening. It wouldn't have mattered anyways since the girls' eyes were dazed and distant, eyes on the moon.

Soon, clouds were beginning to block the moon which ended the bubbling reaction. The girls eyes came back from the dazed look and they shook their heads.

"Um, what happened?" Misty asked, fidgeting a little.

"I…" Leaf was at a loss for words. She didn't know how long or what was happening. "I don't really know."

"We were looking at the moon, and then nothing." May said softly.

Leaf shook her head of what happened. Seeing as nothing had changed them, she went back to their priority. "Let's just go." The other nodded and called their pokémon over.

They all dived after taking a deep breath and swam down below. Like Misty said, it was a twenty second dive, but it was another twenty to go back up.

"Beautifly," May gasped as she released her pokémon into the air. "Which way to the boat?"

Beautifly flew up and looked around. May's bug pokémon had to fly a few feet towards direction before gesturing towards to their left.

While beautifly was still leading the way, the girls swam along with their pokémon back to the shore of where they came from. When they got up, it was freezing cold and May and Misty were shaking as they recalled their pokémon. Leaf was shaking too, but she got the engine started to make use of the time.

Misty took out a box and got out two emergency blankets that were luckily still there. Leaf told them that they could have it first since she was the only one in a long sleeved shirt. Around half way back, Misty took over and gave Leaf the blanket.

During all this time, May looked up at the covered moon and shining stars. She didn't know why, but her fear of water was almost gone. As the boat was leaving the island further away, she felt like her water phobia was leaving behind also.

When the girls got home, they were each tired from today's event and climbed into bed. The three lived together at the student housing. The school was no private, but it was a program where they mostly accepted abroad students. The school provides houses surrounding the school like any neighborhoods. Each house was big enough to fit up to eight people max. The houses had to be big so that it could fit many boarders from around the regions. This was one of some international schools.

At the moment, the girls were living at a house for four. There wasn't a fourth person which was fine by them.

* * *

**This may seem familiar to some of you. ^-^ I hope you'll support. I give thanks to Fprmr1 for inspiring me to write this fic along with where I got the idea. XD **


	2. Chapter 2: What Does This Mean?

**09/20/12**

**Chapter 2****: What Does This Mean?**

"Epp!" Lyra squealed as she dodged the splashing water.

Marina gave a small laugh and a grin. "Sorry." The aquamarine haired girl turned around to finish washing the dishes. "Where's your necklace?"

"On the table. I don't always have to wear it." Lyra replied as she headed for the fridge. Looking through, she took out a chocolate pudding cup. "It's not like I'll ever lose it." Lyra sat on the stool by the counter to eat while watching her roommate wash the dishes.

"Oh really?" a female voice sneered. "Remember when you lost it on the first day of school?"

Lyra pouted. "Hey! At least I got it back."

Victoria simply put on her hands to her hips. "Oh really? Now who was it that got it back for you?" she smirked, awaiting for the answer from the auburn brown haired girl.

"You," Lyra mumbled with the spoon in her mouth.

"That's right." Victoria nodded triumphantly. "Get me and Marina pudding too." The dark orangey haired girl said to her twin sister that was by the fridge.

"Yeah, yeah." Clarissa responded lazily. She took out three cups that were all chocolate flavored and took out three small spoons.

The blonde plopped it on the counter with spoons on top. She pulled the seat closer to Victoria before hopping on and eating her pudding slowly. "So have you guys visited the island yet?"

"Not yet," Marina replied as she dried her hands. "Why?"

"Well, when I was there," Clarissa began. "Wait, let me talk about the island first. It's really beautiful there, like all naturey and full of different pokémon. You wouldn't believe how many can fit on that island."

"Probably not as much as you think." Victoria replied, knowing her sister can exaggerate at times even though she didn't mean to.

"No, this time is for reals. The island is bigger than you think and much farther out too." Clarissa explained about the area around it and the pokémon who inhabited on there. "Ooh, and then the pokémon around the area told me they saw three girls coming out of the cave. Weird right? You wouldn't think anyone would be interested in it since homecoming is coming up."

"I don't know," Marina is thoughtfully. "As freshmen, we are not exactly part of the 'homecoming' if you know what I mean. But thinking about it, I overheard this guy with a Pikachu on his shoulders mentioning something about friends going boating."

The three girls looked at Marina. "You think it's them?" Clarissa asked.

Marina just shrugged as she scoop up more pudding. "Who's to say."

"Maybe the pokémon," Lyra joked.

"Hey Jimmy," Marina waved at her childhood friend. The two met at the age of nine.

Looking for the source before spotting Marina, he waved back with a grin. "Hey Marina."

Lyra giggled as she stepped back in step with the twins. It was obvious that the two like each other more than friends. The girls knew that but apparently Marina doesn't. They can't say if Jimmy realizes or not because he keeps doing all those small things without a problem. You would think it should be a brother and sister relationship, but they were too close to be in that kind of relationship. Brothers don't usually dote on their younger sisters often anymore.

"You know, Marina should just put that shell over her ear and listen for the sound of the wave." Victoria said with a sly smile.

"I know, right." Lyra giggled. "It would get them together so much faster if Marina could read his thoughts and if he could read hers. But too bad that that won't happen any time soon." Lyra sighed while shaking her head.

"Let's just get to class girls," Clarissa said with an amused smile. She came up to the two 'friends' and tapped her friend on the shoulder. "We should get going. Class is going to start soon."

"Okay," Marina turned to Jimmy and waved good bye. He did the same and walked back to his classroom since they went passed it already.

Clarissa looked around and casually asked, "So, what were you two talking about?" Marina was looking all happy and giggles as she talked about helping to decorate the homecoming dance.

"Oh! You guys should join too!" Marina clapped her hands at the idea. "It will be so much fun!"

"I don't know," Clarissa said uncertainly. She was worried if something will go wrong while painting for the poster or background stuff/decorations.

"Oh relax," Marina said. "Just have your mirror at all times and you'll be oh-kay." She raised up her right wrist to show a bracelet with a single shell on it to prove her point.

Clarissa pouted as she hugged her history book close to her chest since she couldn't cross her arms. "But you guys can always have your items because they are accessories. While I have a mirror—which by the way, I love—and I don't always have a pocket."

Marina gave her a look with a raised brow. Clarissa huffed in defeat. "Okay, so I always wear jeans. But that is beside the point since I can't wear dresses."

"You choose _not_ to wear skirts and dresses Clari," Victoria said, popping into the conversation for that one statement before going back to talking with Lyra about music class.

"Victoria's right, you know." Marina nodded. "Bye! See you later," Marina waved to Victoria and Lyra along with Clarissa. The girls replied back and split up.

"It's because I don't like my legs." Clarissa defended herself. She was self-conscious about her legs since the day she saw others'. "Besides, skirts and dresses feel a bit too breezy."

"That's because you don't wear them often, and you can always wear shorts under them or leggings, or both." Marina said cheerily. "But please!" the aquamarine haired girl pleaded. "You have to help out! It will be so much fun. Victoria and Lyra agreed."

"I guess…" Clarissa gave in. The blonde usually gives in quickly if her resolve isn't strong and it did sound like fun. "Well, bye." Clarissa entered her classroom while Marina walked two doors down.

"Hey Eranee," Clarissa chirped happily at her friend. She doesn't hang out with the auburn haired girl much except for in classes, but they got along on great terms.

"Hi!" Eranee smiled back as Clarissa took the desk next to her. The two were in math class, their best subject. The two girls chatted while taking out their homework.

"You're going down!" Lyra fumed. It was currently PE and it was a battle of the sexes. They were doing as many competitions as possible throughout the whole week. The students in her teacher's PE classes were all doing it. They were planning to have a party, or pot luck, in each class to end the first trimester. The winning gender gets to be served and have first pick in foods, while the losing gender has to serve the first plate for the winners. It's not much, but one comment led to another so now it was an all-out war of the sexes.

"Ready?! Begin!"

With that, the two pairs of boys and girls took off. While they were running, Lyra cheered them on along with her best friend, Marina and her friends Leaf and Misty. Her friends were actually from a different class, but their teachers decided to host the competitions together. At the moment, one boy was in the lead with a girl close behind. Another boy was also close behind the girl with the last girl trailing behind a bit.

"You can do it! Go! Go!" Lyra and Misty shouted while Marina and Leaf cheered. It was a relay race with teams consisting of four students each and there were four teams in all. Each student had to run around the track and come back to the starting point to pass off the baton. Among the four friends, only Lyra and Leaf were participating.

"We are going to own this, right!" Lyra cheered. It was almost her turn. She would be running the final lap along with Leaf.

"Yeah," Leaf said, unenthusiastically. Honestly, she did not want to participate in this race. It was dumb and she was feeling a bit lightheaded.

Seeing Leaf being such a downer, Misty patted the girl on the back. "Cheer up Leaf!"

Leaf stumbled forward a bit due to the impact on her back. She gave a small glare before turning it into a small smile. What was wrong with her today? Normally, she would love to have a small run. Feeling free to go at her own pace. Maybe that was the problem. She couldn't go on her own pace and all this was a competition.

Since it was a sunny day, Marina swept her hands through her hair near her ears, but as she did so with her right hand, she heard Leaf's thoughts briefly. She held back a frown as she listened for a moment before coming up with a small plan. "Good luck guys!" Marina gave encouragement. It was almost her friends' turns. "Remember, you are in this to beat the guys. But looking at how we are now," the four turned to look at the race. Both boys were in the lead with the girls a few to ten feet behind. "I hope both of you can win this or give a tie."

"Don't worry," Leaf said with a bigger small, thinking about beat the male population. It was one of her most fun moments. "We will, right Lyra?"

"Of course!" Lyra yelled from her position on the ground. She was doing a quick stretch before the baton pass. All the fourth runners got ready for the moment of the pass.

Since the boys were in the lead, the fourth running males started their jogging pass and off they went when the baton was secured in their hands. A few seconds later, Lyra and Leaf were on their way. Lyra was ahead of Leaf and was running like crazy. Soon, Lyra was close to the boys while Leaf was further behind.

The girls in the two classes were cheering on Lyra while some were yelling for Leaf to catch up. Not only were the points based on which person came first, but also the time. So far, they weren't all that fast so the points were going to be lower.

"GO LYRA!" Misty shouted. Apparently, her shout was really loud since students who were near had to cover their ears. Marina had to calm the ginger down since she had it worst of all, being next to the ginger and all. "You Can Do It, LEAF!"

Lyra grinned as she heard Misty's yell. Pumping with adrenaline, she ran faster and was in the lead with the boys close behind.

"Looks like Leaf is ready," Misty said, beaming at her friend. Leaf wasn't the type to start off like a maniac. No, her way is to start out at a nice pace, and then speed up when it was close to the finishing goal. So halfway around the track, leaf sped up and was a couple paces behind the boys. What really helped both brunettes was that they had trained.

When Lyra was ten, she started to run more often to get used to the feel. Eventually, she trained herself to keep running. Lucky for her, she was used to exercise with little oxygen and build up her endurance. Meanwhile in Leaf's case, she used to run around a lot when she was young. Seeing her talent, her parents decided to get Leaf to run every day. As she grew up, the runs were more intense and running was like a chore now.

In the end, Lyra got second place while Leaf was in third. Although, the fact that they ran really fast made the points worth more because of the time that was recorded.

"Good job girls," Marina said with a small proud smile. She hid her disappointment, but the girls knew she was a little sad about them not getting first place. "But it's fine, we still have two more days worth of events to go!" Her happy demeanor came back, then a thought hit her. "Oh yeah! Leaf, Misty, why don't you guys join the homecoming committee. It will be so much fun. You can even invite, M…May? with you."

"That sounds great and all, but I'm not so sure." Misty said uncertainly as she pulled Leaf off the ground. "What do we have to do?"

"Well, you can join the decoration committee like us." Lyra shared a wink with Marina. "Plus, Vicky and Clari will be there too."

"Who?" Both Misty and Leaf cocked their heads as they walked towards the locker room.

"Victoria and Clarissa Stone." Marina clarified.

"Oh." Leaf and Misty nodded.

"So, how about it?" Lyra asked eagerly.

Leaf and Misty shared a look of some sort of understanding and agreed. Now all they have to do is tell May and they will be all good to go.

~x~ AFTER SCHOOL ~x~

"Where are they?" Lyra looked at the time impatiently. She was already at their special meeting place. It was along the beach at a more secluded place where there were big rocks to form like walls. She had already put her school stuff back at their house and rushed all the way here to check out the island. But looking at the distant island, it seemed somewhat mysterious, or rather, magical.

"Lyra!" Victoria called from behind. Said girl turned around to see her three best friends jogging towards her in summer wear.

"Hurry up!" Lyra called, but not so loud so that people wouldn't really hear her. She was just itching for a swim.

"How'd you get here so fast?" Clarissa asked disbelievingly as the girls scouted around for any people.

Lyra just shrugged as the area was clear of anyone and the four quickly ran towards the rolling waved with all their clothes on. It wouldn't matter anyways because in a few seconds, their clothes would disappear anyways.

Once the water level reached almost to their knees, they did a small dive and swam out to the ocean. Bubbles fizzed around the four and a small light covered them for a bit before disappearing. No one would be the wiser as to what had just happened.

"Race ya to the island!" Victoria cheered as the bubbles dispersed to reveal the teen in an orange shell bra with white and lighter orange stars patterned on it. Her legs merged together to form a beautiful fish tail matching her bra with a beaded tail-let (anklet for tails). The area near her hip where the tail starts to form was a darker orange color that fades to orange. She had a seaweed green hairpiece that was shaped like a comb in her hair. Victoria also had a golden orange arm pant around her left arm and matching shell earrings.

"Meet ya there!" Lyra squealed as she torpedoed towards the distant island with her now long brown hair trailing behind her. Her hair was still in its pigtails which were tied with weaved seaweed that had ribbon shaped shells as decoration. Her tail was an ocean royal blue while her bikini halter top was a royal red. Around her neck was a necklace with a few pearls and a turritella shell as a pendant, and bright orange rims on her wrist bands with blue and red mixing in between.

"See ya!" Marina waved at Clarissa. Marina's hair was longer now but still with held in her pigtails which were tied with shiny pink kelp. Her tail was a shade tad darker than baby pink with outlines of stars and hearts ranging from soft white to pale pink. Her bikini top was pink with white designs. She wore a red and magenta beaded bracelet with a conch as a charm and a matching choker without the conch, but her ears did have conch studs.

Clarissa sighed as she took her time swimming to the island with a compact mirror in hand. She preferred to enjoy the surroundings of the sea but she did participate in their races when she felt like it. Her long blonde hair retained its length as if she was on dry land but now had a light ocean blue veil coming from the clip she was wearing. Her tail color was a sky blue that looked a bit misty. She had on a soft, pale yellow see through material that acted like a belt around her hip. Her halter top was a soft pink with elegant, light gold floral patterns. She had on soft green earrings in the shape of stars.

Swimming around freely, Clarissa interacted with the swimming pokémon and other sea creatures. It was a sunny day so the sea was in clear view. However, her exploration was ruined when she saw a boat coming towards her. Quickly, she torpedoed through the water towards the cave entrance. Swimming through the underwater cave entrance, she reappeared out of the water with her friends and sister.

"That was quick," Victoria raised a brow in question.

"There was a boat," Clarissa answered as she sat down on the underwater rock bench thinking about her spoiled supposed-to-be-time. "But whatevs."

"By the way," Victoria said sweetly. Her friends and sister knew what that smile meant. "YOU could've TOLD us where THIS ENTRANCE WAS!" She slapped her twin on the arm.

"OW!" Clarissa said with a scowl as she rubbed the red spot. "Well, sor-ry. It slipped my mind."

"Wani-Wani!" Marina's excited voice interrupted the argument that had escalated. A feraligatr's head popped out of the water as it swam near its trainer. "So, what did you find?"

"Fer, ferali rara," Feraligatr pointed to the underwater entrance of the cave. "Ferali li, fera ligatr gatr." Marina's pokémon explained to the four.

"Thank you, Wani-Wani." Marina smile as she called back her first pokémon.

"You know," Lyra said in her thinking pose. "One of them sounds oddly familiar. The girl with orange hair, can that be Misty?"

"Possibly," Victoria shrugged. "There aren't that many gingers around. And if there's Misty, then Leaf has to be there too, and I think the third one must be May. They are all usually together from what I heard from Leaf."

"Meh," Clarissa waved the conversation off. "I don't know why we should care. Well, I mean we should," she tried to explain. "But there're safe and why are we even discussing this?"

"Still grumpy I see," Victoria remarked which earned her a small glare from the blonde. "But I guess you're right."

"Still," Lyra looked up to see the opening at the very top of the cave. Seeing as the cave seems to narrow as it gets higher, the whole place might be volcano shaped or something. "Something about this place is mystical, like something from our world."

"Clarissa," Marina looked at the elder twin who was already one step ahead of them.

Taking the clip from her hair, she started to chant "Mirror, mirror, mirror of the sea, identify what this island can be." Clarissa opened her mirror for the screen to shine and then show a monitor that records the findings. The monitor showed a screen similar to that of a heart monitor. The lines were going up and down like crazy and were all very high. "Just like Lyra thought, this place is mystical, and according to the rate and altitude of the record, this island has very high magic altitudes."

The girls' eyes widened as they heard Clarissa. So that must mean that this island must've held a significance before. But for a place to have high recordings, the place must either have been the grounds of a very high usage of magic, or where mermaids would come and make the place their sanctuary.

"But what were Misty, Leaf, and May doing here?" Marina questioned. If a place such as this has been a haven for mermaids and still had leftover magic influence, then the island should've been coated with a protective barrier. Humans shouldn't be able to enter without consent, but pokémon should be fine as long as it did not have any ill intentions towards the island itself.

"That's a very good question," Clarissa replied as she looked up. The opening of the cave showed a blue sky with pelippers and wingulls flying about. "There are only a few types of humans who could enter mermaid territory. So there must be something special about them."

Victoria had been silent for a while now, thinking about all the possibilities. Like her sister said, only under certain conditions will humans be able to enter, or even see the island for that matter. The most known way is that they were permitted by a mermaid to enter. Another would be if they were one of those 'special' humans. However, there is one that allows them is they have an innocent heart. But the rarest one is where the island itself permits the entrance of humans.

"Should we look into it?" Lyra asked. It wasn't really her thing to take things seriously, or just not _that_ seriously. Her nature is to keep things all high and cheerful. "Or maybe just keep an eye on them?"

"To be discreet, maybe we should go with observing them." Marina said, her serious persona fading away. It wouldn't do her any good if she was serious; it could cause her early wrinkles.

"Whatever," the twins shrugged.

"I think we should head back now," Clarissa suggested then thought about it. "in about a few moments or so." I'm gonna go exploring around the island, anyone coming?" With that, all the girls disappeared back underwater and left the cave to look around the island.


End file.
